


Travelin' Soldier

by SailorLestrade



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, F/M, Friendship, Letters, Love, Vietnam War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-10-06 09:45:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10331861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorLestrade/pseuds/SailorLestrade
Summary: It started out with Dean needing someone to write a letter to.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Set during the Vietnam era, so AUish :P

Dean made his way into the small café after stepping off the bus he had been leaving his house. He was supposed to be getting on a bus sometime today to head to California. The day was still early though and he couldn’t bring himself to leave Lawrence yet. His dad, a veteran himself, had run to Canada. He heard Vancouver was nice this time of year and he could still write to them all he wanted. Instead, Dean took his draft card and reported for his exam.

“What can I get you?” A soft voice asked Dean as he set down at the booth. He looked up at the girl. He had seen her around school before he had dropped out. She was a year younger than him and the sweetest little thing. Right now, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a box tied in it. He could see her gorgeous eyes.

“A coffee please.” Dean answered. She smiled and left for a second, bringing him back a cup.

“Anything else?” She asked.

“Can you just sit and talk?” Dean asked. “I’m feeling a little low.” (Y/n) scanned him, seeing the green clothes and realizing where he was off to. She saw the nametag Winchester and she remembered his name was Dean. The cute older guy that all the girls wanted to get with.

“I’m off in an hour if you have time.” She told him. “I know where we can go.” Dean nodded and sipped his coffee.

An hour later found the two of them sitting on a bench by a pond in the park. The ducks were swimming around in circles. They were quiet for a second. (Y/n) never thought she’d have the attention of Dean Winchester. Dean never thought he would fall in love with someone at first sight. Finally, Dean spoke up.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” He asked quietly. (Y/n) looked up at him.

“Not really.” She sighed. “It’s complicated.” He nodded.

“Well, I don’t have anyone besides my brother and dad to send letters to. Do you mind if I send one back here to you?” He looked over at her and she smiled.

“Of course.” She said. He fished into his bag and pulled out an envelope and a pen. She took it and jotted her home address down. She lived a few streets over from the Winchesters. They set there for a little bit longer, just talking with each other. Dean’s hand found hers and held it while they talked. But finally, he had to leave. He kissed her cheek gently.

“I’ll be home before you know it.” He smiled at her. She walked with him to the bus station and waved goodbye from the platform as him and a handful of other boys boarded the bus. She had tears in her eyes as she watched him leave. She had never felt this way about a boy before. She couldn’t wait for the first letter to come.

****

Several times a week, she got letters in the mail from Dean. They talked about everything, from her school to his brother, from her job to his. At first, they came from Camp Haan in California and then slowly started to have the address for his base in Vietnam. (Y/n) was rereading them one day when she saw a kid sitting out on the wall outside the high school. She knew he was a freshman to her senior status and he was one of the ones being swept up in the counter culture. Not that she had much room to talk anymore. She would join any movement to bring Dean home.

“Hey.” (Y/n) said to the kid. He looked up at her.

“Hi.” He said sadly. She set down by him.

“Why the long face?” She asked. He sighed.

“Just missing my brother.” He told her. “He was drafted. Dad’s working a lot and it’s just me at home. I miss talking to him. Letters aren’t enough.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She told him, giving him a small hug. “I have someone dear to me that was drafted too. He’s in Vietnam right now.” The kid nodded.

“Dean’s brave.” The kid said. “I know he’ll come home okay. But I still worry.”

“Wait a minute.” She said, smiling some. “Are you Sammy?”

“Yeah…” Sam said, looking at (y/n). “Wait! You’re the (y/n) Dean talks about in his letters!”

“He talks about me?” She asked, her cheeks turning red. He nodded.

“Of course! He told me you were pretty, but I think he was horribly understated.” She laughed some and hugged Sam. That’s when a black car pulled up along the sidewalk and a man got out. “Hey dad.”

“Sammy.” John said. “Who’s this?”

“Dean’s girlfriend.” Sam said, making (y/n) blush. John chuckled some.

“So you’re the girl that Dean keeps going on and on about.” John offered his hand. “John Winchester.”

“(Y/n).” She shook his hand. “He talks about you guys a lot to me too. It was nice to meet you.”

****

After that, (y/n) spent more time with the Winchesters and they spent more time with her. She hung out with Sam after school, helping him with homework and writing letters to his brother. Sam’s birthday passed and she took pictures to send to Dean. She had just gotten home from the store with her pictures for Dean when he parents asked her to sit down at the table with them.

“Sweetie, we’re glad you have a friend,” Her father started. “But we’re worried that you’re too young.”

“Too young?” She asked.

“We say you writing one of your letters. Writing love all the time and kissing it.” Her mother said. She shook her head.

“Mom, I’m 18 now.” (y/n) explained. Sam had turned 15 on May 2nd, and she had turned 18 on June 15th. It was July now. Nine more months and Dean could be coming home.

“What we mean is, what if something happens?” Her dad said, rubbing her back. “We see on the news every night another kid being killed…”

“Dean’s coming home.” She told them, standing up. “I love him. He’s coming home.” She took her pictures and walked up to her room where a new letter was waiting for her and she couldn’t help but smile.

****

(Y/n) set wrapped up in a sweater for the homecoming game. She had went with Sam since John had to work and he didn’t want to stay home. They bowed their heads for the Lord’s Prayer and stood as the marching band played the National Anthem. After they marched off the field, the superintendent took the field.

“Folks, can I ask you to bow your heads again for a list of dead from Vietnam?” Sam and (y/n) looked at each other before bowing their heads. There were just a couple names, thankfully not one of them Dean’s. (y/n) had to touch the letter she kept in her purse though. It was him confessing he loved her, how he thought about her when things got rough and how he longed to come back to her.

(Y/n) saw a girl in a band uniform run away from her ground to under the bleachers. She looked at Sam, since he was still in school, watching him to see if he knew her.

“That’s Linda.” Sam explained. (Y/n) nodded.

“Come on.” She said, leaving her seat. Sam followed closely behind, walking underneath the bleachers.

“Linda?” (Y/n) said softly. She was sobbing uncontrollably.

“We were going to get married.” She said. “He wanted to marry me. He wanted to start a family.” She wiped at her eyes. (Y/n) and Sam both hugged her then.

“It’s okay.” Sam assured her.

“He’s gone!” She cried. (Y/n) hugged her tighter. “I loved him and he’s gone.” No one else seemed to care that she was crying, that the love of her life had been taken from her, except for that sweet little boy with the dimples, and a girl with a bow in her hair.

****

It was early April. The last time either Sam or (Y/n) had heard from Dean had been the end of March. He had told them he might have to stay longer than April and he wouldn’t be able to write for a while. Things were getting rougher and he wasn’t sure when he would have time to write to them. He was glad that Sam and (y/n) had found each other, to be strong for each other. They had shared holidays together, both families getting together often.

(Y/n) and Sam were riding bikes towards (y/n)’s house. Even though she was out of school, she stuck around town waiting on Dean. And she felt that Sam needed her more right now than anything else did. But as they came up to (y/n)’s house, she stopped suddenly. Sam braked and turned to look at her.

“What is it?” He asked. She let her bike fall.

“Stay here Sammy.” She told him.

“What’s going on?” He asked her.

“Just stay here.” She ran over towards her house. There was a man in an Army uniform on her front porch, talking to her mother. Her chest tightened and her breathing showed nerves. This couldn’t be happening. Not Dean…

“There she is.” She heard her mother say. “I’m sure she’d rather hear this from you.” (y/n)’s eye filled with tears as she braced herself, ready for what was coming and ready to tell Sam. But what she wasn’t ready for was when the man turned around and she saw those familiar green eyes. Forgetting everything she had told herself to do, she threw herself into his arms and cried as he held her close.

“Dean.” Was all she could say.

“I came home baby.” He told her, holding her close. “I came home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Feedback is welcome!


End file.
